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Make No Assumptions: Back-to-School with Kids and Technology
by Diane S. Kendall, 09/05/2007
As kids start darkening the doors of classrooms once again this fall, I have three words of advice to you when it comes to schools and technology - make no assumptions. Here's what I mean. - Operating systems - Lot of kids and families have gotten new computers this summer in anticipation of the beginning of school. If you gotten a new machine running Microsoft's new Vista operating system make sure you find out if documents and presentations your child creates on your home computer are going to open on school computers. Lots of schools are still operating ancient systems like Mac OS9 and Windows '98 (even Windows '95 in some writing labs) and there may be some compatibility issues. Of course this also operates in reverse. If your school has gotten a new computer lab, cart full of laptops, or computers for the classroom, check to make sure they work with what you have at home before that project that's due all of a sudden becomes undeliverable. (Oh yeah, and make sure if your child is taking a home laptop to use to show a presentation and may need to plug into the wall for power that you make sure there's a compatible wall plug. It doesn't happen as much as it used to, but it's a nasty surprise when it does because those three prong plugs just won't fit into a two prong plug socket without an adaptor.)
- Cell Phones and Digital Device Policies - Make sure you and your kids know what your school's policy is on using cell phones, mp3 players like iPods, and other digital entertainment devices on campus. You should talk to your kids about following the rules with emphasis on the consequences for lapses both imposed by the school and at home. Perhaps most important of all, though, is that you don't come between your child and the school rules by asking them to bend the rules "just this once" by taking a call from you when they aren't supposed to. While your child having a cell phone may give you a sense of security that they can reach you in case of emergency, you'll find that schools have no toleration of breaking the rules "just this once." Don't embroil yourself in the cell phone wars. Make no assumption that your school will be on your side.
- Cyberbullying - Cyberbullying is becoming more and more prevalent and you have to assume after having the whole summer to work on their multimedia skills on the computer that some kids just can't wait to snap embarrassing photos of others, set up anonymous web pages about rivals or kids they consider "weird", or to make nasty comments on social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook about friends and foes alike. Assume some form of cyberbullying is going to be imposed on your child at some point, but make no assumptions about what your school can do about it. Unless the cyberbullying was done in school or transmitted using school equipment, there is often very little the school can do. If your child is cyberbullied, make sure you make copies of any and all emails, web pages, IMs or other communications so you can give them to your local police if the cyberbullying becomes relentless. Remind your child that the best way to handle any kind of bully, including cyberbullies, is to ignore them. Sometimes, that just isn't possible so they need to tell you when someone makes them uncomfortable. (For more hints on how to talk to your kids about cyberbullying see Cyberbullying: Not Just Name Calling in the Digital Smarts portion of this site.) Oh yes, and make no assumptions that your children would never cyberbully anyone. Sometimes even the kindest, gentlest child may take the leap, be pushed to take it, be reciprocating, or just not realize that their teasing or excluding of others borders on something much more harmful.
- Internet Sources - Obviously all Internet sites are not equal and some contain misinformation. Remind your kids not to assume that everything on the Internet is true just like they cannot assume that everyone they met online is who they say they are. Be aware that sites like the popular Wikipedia are being banned in many schools as a resource because the information on those sites is often slanted by who wrote the entry. If you haven't talked about misinformation online with your kids see Misinformation: Truth or Spoof for a discussion starter.
- Technology Expertise - Parenting in the digital age may be different than the parenting of old but if you think about it, almost every generation has had some form of technology (cars, radio, television, etc.) come along that the older generation didn't know much about. Keep your eyes, ears and mind open to what's new in technology but remind kids that good manners, original work and sharing their technical prowess kindly and without sarcasm are also important real world skills. Want to stay up on the latest on parenting with technology? Subscribe to the Digital Smarts daily blog.
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